Published: February 11, 2008 07:31 pm            

Tribune-Star editorial: Sullivan council prez must resign

Last week’s strangest and most disappointing news item was the drunken driving arrest of Sullivan City Council President Clint Lamb.

Lamb, 27, was charged after a breath analysis registered him at .12 blood alcohol content. (The legal BAC limit is .08.) Police say Lamb apparently drove a car during the wee hours of the morning into a soft lawn in Shelburn — five miles north of Sullivan — and got stuck. A deputy sheriff reached the scene before Lamb could summon friends to help him escape his predicament.

But there is a troubling twist to this story. The car Lamb was driving was not his own. It was a Sullivan police department vehicle. How and why Lamb came to be in possession of the car remain unknown, but he was almost certainly not authorized to have it.

Lamb has declined to comment publicly on the matter. The first meeting of the Sullivan City Council since the incident occurs tonight.

Police say they are still investigating the matter. As of now, Lamb is charged with only drunken driving. It is not clear if authorities are contemplating further criminal charges in connection with his use of the police vehicle.

We’ll let the investigation run its course on that front. Meanwhile, Lamb has only one official duty that he can reasonably perform. He should resign from office.

While Lamb has served with distinction as a council member and proved to be a popular, get-things-done leader for the city of Sullivan, there are simply some things that cannot be overlooked in the performance of an elected official. At best, Lamb’s conduct represents extremely poor judgment and a violation of the public trust. His credibility as a public servant has been severely compromised.

It is in Lamb’s and city of Sullivan’s best interests that he immediately step down. It is his only appropriate action.

        

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